Sausage is a widely known and consumed foodstuff which, particularly in the United States of America, has been adapted to informal and fast service food preparation and sale. In particular, Americans are well known for consumption of hot dogs, usually served by preparing sausages and buns and inserting the sausages into the buns.
As fast service restaurants have developed in the United States, attention has been turned toward improved methods and apparatus for preparing foodstuffs, including hot dogs. Grill apparatus of varying kinds, including heated rollers and rotisserie structures have been developed and used in efforts to meet requirements for fast food service of sausages and buns such as hot dogs. However, research into the quality of the product delivered has reflected difficulties with such prior grill apparatus and methods.
More particularly, consumer preference appears to be for hot dogs which have been prepared by heating in hot water or steam and which are served in buns which are somewhat moist and at an elevated temperature. While a consumer will prefer such foodstuffs, difficulties are encountered in accommodating the preparation and serving of such foodstuffs, particularly in relatively high volumes. More specifically, optimal presentation of the foodstuffs requires that the internal temperatures of the sausage and the bun be at certain levels, thus requiring that the sausage and bun be subjected to heating for a time sufficient to raise the temperatures to those desired levels. However, heating must be accomplished in such a manner as to not extend a holding period for the foodstuff for an unacceptably long time. Where sausages such as hot dogs are held for an unacceptably long time in a heated water bath, the sausage may split or otherwise take on an unattractive appearance, flavor is lost or leached out, and oil or grease released from the foodstuffs may form a floating layer on the hot water bath possibly imparting an undesirable flavor to the foodstuffs.